Un-Tied: Student Federation of uOttawa (SFUO) Impeachment Campaign

The Online Petition is now PUBLIC, if you are a Student, Alumni, or Concerned Third Party, then make sure to sign this petition.

Please ignore the request for donations. It comes from Change.org and can't be removed. We are not accepting donations.

Referendum Questions In Accordance with SFUO's Constitution:

Should (Rizki Rachiq), cease to occupy the position of (President) of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa?

Should (Axel Gaga), cease to occupy the position of Vice-President, Operations of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa?

We, the undersigned, call for the resignation of the Executive Director (Vanessa Dorimain) of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa. Alternatively, we call on the Executive Committee of the Federation to dismiss the Executive Director.

Introduction: Due to the recent fraud allegations against two officers and an employee of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), a group of students have formed a campaign, named Un-Tied. This campaign calls for the impeachment of the officers and the removal of the employee through a constitutional petition. This campaign will pressure the Board of Administration to seek measures against those members, whether through another emergency motion or through a referendum. In order to achieve this, we need a minimum of 1,800-2,000 signatures. Let us achieve this by the end of September in order to rebuild the student movement and implement a truly progressive vision for this campus, for all students, by the students.

The Un-Tied campaign understands the lack of ability for the Administration of the University of Ottawa to suspend any of those representatives. However, we wholeheartedly appreciate their halt of transfer payments, as this was the only action they could realistically take. As a result, we want to bring students together to address this problem head-on. It is our responsibility and our duty to seek remedies.

We urge you to reach out to your Board of Administration representatives (names found below) and pressure them to pass a motion against those members facing fraud allegations, along with voicing your concerns to your representatives at the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa. You will find all the news articles regarding these allegations and past controversies below. We ask that you make a conscious decision based on what you read, it will shed the true reality of our representatives and Student Federation.

Who We Are? We are a group of students dedicated to seeing corruption removed from the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) and student-run institutions at the University. We believe in students having the power and responsibility to hold our leaders and representatives accountable, especially amidst the recent allegations. The Board of Administration (BoA) recently failed to pass motions to suspend two out of the three people facing these allegations until they are cleared from the investigation, which sheds light into the incapability of our representatives to take protective measures to secure the interests of students. We are facing an uncertain time with a major loss of trust in current student representatives. Hence, the petition which calls for the impeachment of the two executives and the removal of the employee facing these allegations.

Mandate: Our mandate is to bring all students of the University of Ottawa together in the face of fraud allegations brought against the two executives and the employee at the SFUO. For too long, controversies have surrounded the SFUO, as a result, the Un-Tied campaign aims to support students with resources that aid them in making the right decision about the current state of the SFUO. Therefore, the Un-Tied campaign is seeking a minimum of 1,800-2,000 signatures on a Change.org petition (Submitted to the University of Ottawa) and through a physical petition campaign with a team of canvassers to pressure the SFUO’s Board of Administrators into either pursuing another emergency motion to suspend the members facing these allegations, or trigger a referendum where we get to decide.

Values: We aim to seek respect, integrity, transparency, fairness and authenticity within the student movement. But we also seek to create one community, with students from all cultures and all different sides for the purpose of achieving initiatives that will be beneficial for all students.

Impeachment Grounds:

3.9.1.1 Wilful mismanagement of a substantial amount of Federation funds. There shall be wilful mismanagement when the mismanagement occurs without a minimum of precautions having been taken;

The ongoing police investigation against the alleged perpetrators of the fraud shows that this mismanagement of funds has been ongoing for a long period of time. Even if the police ultimately conclude that no crime was committed, the allegations point to a deeper, systemic pattern of financial mismanagement. In 2016, the SFUO has almost gone bankrupt. In 2017, those members fought to raise their own salaries, which demonstrates this pattern.

3.9.1.2 Placing the Federation at risk

The University of Ottawa’s recent statement stated that transfer payments will be halted to the SFUO until the forensic audit is complete. The SFUO is now under possible risk of failing to perform day-to-day operations as a result of the allegations.

3.9.1.5 Wilful misrepresentation of the Federation; and

This police investigation does not only hurt the federation. It hurts students and the University of Ottawa as a whole. These allegations present to us serious questions as to the ability of members facing allegations to represent the federation in any capacity.

3.9.1.7 Abuse of power.

Should these allegations be proven, the executives facing allegations will have clearly demonstrated an abuse of power. This is not the first time, however. In the past, some of these executives facing allegations have used their power to allegedly obtain U-Passes improperly, stormed into La Rotonde’s (our Francophone student newspaper) board of administration meeting to elect themselves, in a way to control student media on campus, and even tried to increase their own pay. This is further followed by having one of the executives facing allegations attend the recent BoA meeting as a voting member and the employee being elected as temporary chair. It is a clear conflict of interest to attend and participate in, let alone chair, a meeting at which your suspension and fate are being decided.

Impeachment Process according to SFUO’s Constitution:

Referenda of the federation are votes on ballot questions in which a direct vote of the entire electorate of the federation is asked to accept or reject a proposal. The results of referenda, the option selected by a simple majority of members casting ballots, are binding upon the Federation and must be acted upon in a timely fashion.

A petition duly signed by five (5) percent of the members of the Federation. The petition must list the student number of every signatory and must be delivered to the Chairperson of the Board of Administration, no later than 7 days prior to a meeting of the Board of Administration. The petition must clearly indicate the question to be posed.

In this case, at the Board of Administration meeting immediately following delivery of the petition, the Chairperson must require the Board to select a timeline to hold the referendum.

Your Board of Administration Contacts:

Unfortunately, we have not been able to garner all emails as the SFUO has not released the list of the board or their emails. We managed to acquire the exact names, and have gathered a few of their emails (with consent). The list will be updated as the emails are collected. Nevertheless, you can find them on Facebook as well.